Xerox saves 'green' by going 'green'

Earth Awards Program: Company proves being environmentally friendly is cost-saver; quantifying the impact

Richard Lee, Staff Writer

Published 9:33 pm, Monday, November 22, 2010

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Printing 2,200 pages per month on a color laser printer for four years would produce 815 pounds of waste, according to Norwalk-based Xereox Corp. With the Xerox ColorQube 9200 Series, that waste is reduced to 88 pounds. less

Printing 2,200 pages per month on a color laser printer for four years would produce 815 pounds of waste, according to Norwalk-based Xereox Corp. With the Xerox ColorQube 9200 Series, that waste is reduced to ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

Xerox saves 'green' by going 'green'

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Staff at Norwalk-based Xerox Corp.'s facility in Wilsonville, Ore., may not be single-handedly saving the earth by developing the smallest package possible for ColorQube solid ink, but they are getting an Earth Award for their efforts

The ColorQube's tray and lid are made from recycled material, while the shipping box is 43-percent recycled. The Wilsonville team was one of 13 winners at global Xerox facilities.

Another Wilsonville team adopted Xerox's Energy Challenge 2012 to save 855,000 kilowatt hours of electricity -- and more than $140,000 -- by "greening" up their processes.

"For 17 years, our Earth Awards program has showcased how employees improve the business and benefit the world by eliminating waste," said Patty Calkins, Xerox vice president, Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability. "Xerox employees have a strong sense of pride attached to our legacy of being environmentally conscious."

- Webster, N.Y.: A team at the toner plant improved the wastewater process, reducing by 60 percent wastewater sent offsite for disposal and saving about $80,000 per year. Another team redesigned the toner plant sludge waste handling system, converting waste to energy and eliminating waste to landfill.

- Grovepoint, Ohio: Using Lean Six Sigma, a team cut packaging material sent to landfills, saving more than $738,000 per year.

- Dundalk, Ireland: Employees developed a process to reconstruct DocuTech DPI kits, which control ink released on paper, saving at least $132,000 and keeping 70,400 pounds of material our of landfills.

Xerox is investing $1 million over the next four years in the second phase of a partnership with The Nature Conservancy to promote forest conservation.

"Xerox demonstrated real leadership in promoting responsible forest management -- both in areas that they source from and in other key geographies around the globe," said Bill Ginn, conservancy chief conservation officer. "It's partnerships like these that are starting to change how forests are managed."